Rules, fun drills aid fall coaches

It’s that time of year again: soccer season. Thousands of youngsters will be trying to find the back of the net in all different age groups encompassing all different levels.

That also means the call for coaches has gone out for the local youth teams, travel teams, and recreation department teams.

For those about to grab the whistle and coach a soccer team, here are some tips to make the experience a positive one.

. First of all, draw up a list of guidelines and go over them with the parents and players. And stick to them!!

For example, if a player misses a practice, they don’t start the next game.

Or players will all receive equal playing time and they will play all different positions.

You might run in to the “My son just wants to play striker” syndrome. Most of the time, that really means “We want our son to just play striker and score goals.”

To which you should reply, courteously, “I understand your request but that’s not going to happen. It’s important at the youth league level to expose the players to all the positions in order to gain a better understanding of the game.”

. Make the drills fun. The best way to do that is to allow the players to shoot on goal to end the drill.

Or make the drills competitive. Which group of players can complete the most passes in a passing drill, etc….

Keep the practices short and sweet and keep the players busy.

If you have 18 players on your team and the drill encompasses just three players, you have 15 standing and watching.

That’s no good.

Maybe have two drills going on at the same time.

A one-hour practice with the players busy throughout is a lot better than a two-hour practice with the players spending a healthy percentage of it watching other players perform the drill.

. Teach your players the importance of communicating, especially the goalies, who have the best view of the entire field and can really help their team by pointing out unmarked opponents.

. Set up a bunch of small-sided games (four against four, etc.) on smaller fields to ensure your players get a lot of touches on the ball and are under pressure so they have to play the ball quickly and think what they’re going to do with it ahead of time. The more touches the better for skill development.

. Force your players to develop their inferior foot by scheduling weak-foot scrimmages. Players have to pass or shoot with their less-dominant foot or the other team receives a free kick.

How many times have you seen a player miss an open net because they awkwardly try to tap the ball in with their dominant foot when all they had to do is extend their weaker foot?

. Stress players to make runs after they pass the ball so they are putting pressure on the opposing team and getting themselves into position to receive a return pass. Give-and-gos are a staple of the passing game.

. Teach your goalies to come off their lines and cut down the shooting angle. Too many goalies are married to their goal lines.

That gives the shooter too much net to shoot at.

. Finally, tell your shooters to work on placement.

Whether you squeeze the ball barely over the goal line or drill it into the back of the net, it still counts the same.

Larry Mahoney can be reached at 990-8231, 1-800-310-8600 or by email at lmahoney@bangordailynews.net.